MLB Predictions – 2014

It’s that time of year again and I obviously waited until the last possible moment to do my predictions. Some people would even say I’m a little late.. 2 games late.. if you count the 2 game series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers which was played in Australia last weekend. Those two games won’t affect my predictions so I think I’m okay there. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series last year and the good thing there is a new season is on the brink and everyone has a chance. Lets get to it!

AL East

1) Tampa Bay Rays
2) Boston Red Sox
3) Baltimore Orioles
4) New York Yankees
5) Toronto Blue Jays
Analysis: For years this division has been the toughest in baseball, but not this season. I picked Tampa last year to get to the World Series, but they battled a lot of injuries and didn’t have such a great offensive season. I think they will be a little different this year and they are always surrounded by young stars in the pitching rotation. Boston still has a strong team, but will their bullpen be as sharp as last year? Will they stay away from injuries and will their young stars be consistent all season? Baltimore may make a run for the wild card, but it’s their pitching that concerns me more than their hitting.

AL Central
1) Detroit Tigers
2) Kansas City Royals
3) Minnesota Twins
4) Cleveland Indians
5) Chicago White Sox
Analysis: I still believe the Tigers will finish in first in their division even without Jim Leyland and first year manager, Brad Ausmus. They still have the best team, hitting wise and pitching wise in their division and maybe possibly the whole American League. The teams that follow them are still wide open to me and I think two surprises will be the Royals and the Twins. The Indians can still put together a good year and compete for 2nd place but I think the Royals and Twins have more depth to last through the season.

AL West
1) Oakland Athletics
2) Seattle Mariners
3) Texas Rangers
4) Los Angeles Angels
5) Houston Astros
Analysis: This is a tough division to predict, but my gut tells me that Oakland will be the team to break out so that’s what I’m going with. I hate to also buy onto all the offseason moves that Seattle made, but aside from their young offensive players and the signing of Robinson Cano, their pitching staff doesn’t look too bad and they have a reliable closer to string together wins. The Rangers always have the ability to finish in first, but I have them in third since they got off to a rough start with injuries. With the Angels, this may be the year where Scioscia gets canned and I still don’t think it’s all his fault. They are offensively stacked, but also aging with Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols if they ever return to form. They don’t have the depth in pitching to hang on all season and Mike Trout won’t be able to carry them 162 games this year.

AL Playoffs
1) Detroit Tigers
2) Oakland Athletics
3) Tampa Bay Rays
Wild Card
4) Boston Red Sox
5) Baltimore Orioles

AL Champions
Oakland Athletics

NL East
1) Washington Nationals
2) Atlanta Braves
3) Philadelphia Phillies
4) Miami Marlins
5) New York Mets
Analysis: This was a competitive division a few years ago and it’s getting less and less. I liked Atlanta in the offseason and even last season, but they have taken big hits with injuries in their starting rotation. They also have a lot of inconsistencies in hitting with Uggla and BJ Upton who never really came around last season. The Nationals are really building a beast for Matt Williams and I think they have the ability to win well over 100 games this year if they stay healthy for the most part. The Phillies will be competitive and may be just on the outside of the Wild Card race. I think they’ll have a better year than most “experts” expect. I also took the Marlins out of the cellar. I think they have pieces to grow and to be… eh, decent?

NL Central
1) Pittsburgh Pirates
2) St. Louis Cardinals
3) Cincinnati Reds
4) Milwaukee Brewers
5) Chicago Cubs
Analysis: This is undoubtedly one of the best divisions in all of baseball. The race of the top 3 will be an exciting one once again and maybe add a fourth with the Brewers who have a, not-so-bad starting rotation and the return of their MVP, Ryan Braun. The Pirates and Cardinals will fight it out for most of the year, but I think the potential is that the top 3 (as I have it) will all be playing at least a game in the post-season. It’s hard to pick the Cubs to break the mold with the lack of offensive firepower. They will have to make some moves to show they can compete with these teams.

NL West
1) Los Angeles Dodgers
2) San Francisco Giants
3) San Diego Padres
4) Colorado Rockies
5) Arizona Diamondbacks
Analysis: Are the Dodgers the team to beat in the National League? Living in LA I would say most people would think so, but I’m not too sure. They are starting the season with attitude issues with Puig, Kershaw and Kemp on the DL. I think the Giants can give them fits for first place, at least for the first half of the season. The Giants went through injuries last year that caused a down year, but they have a good core offensively and they always have their strong pitching to lean on (watch for Lincecum to have a bounce back season).

NL Playoffs
1) Washington Nationals
2) Los Angeles Dodgers
3) Pittsburgh Pirates
Wild Card
4) St. Louis Cardinals
5) San Francisco Giants

NL Champions
Los Angeles Dodgers

World Series Champions
Los Angeles Dodgers over Oakland Athletics

If all goes into my predictions this team will become victorious. It won’t be an easy season for them and I know they are the favorites going into this season (based on Vegas odds), the favorites are the Dodgers and the Tigers to go to the World Series in their respective Leagues. The Dodgers will have to fight through the pressure and the expectations of a huge salary cap, lots of star players, and lots of egos and competing with the National League which is stronger than the American League (in my opinion). If they get there, they will have to be solid in the bullpen, fight through injuries, possibly make some trades mid year, to figure out the outfield situation of having Kemp, Ethier, Crawford, and Puig and also fight through stability in their rotation. Let the season begin!

All-Star Break and Mid-Season Grades

You can close the books on the first half of the MLB season and you’ve seen some players have excellent halves, horrible halves, and teams climb their way out of the cellar. We are nearing the trade deadline (end of July) and there may be some big trades to move stars to teams that are contenders.

The 2013 All-Star Game was played last night where American League pitching completely shut down the National League All-Stars, holding the NL to just 3 hits. The highlight of the game was when Mariano Rivera (pictured above) entered the game in the 8th. He was the only player to take the field to his familiar intro “Enter Sandman”. Fans of all MLB teams in the stands, his AL All-Star teammates, and NL All-Star peers gave him a standing ovation. Well deserved. For a guy that has been in the biggest situations year after year, he still got choked up, which shows he is human after all, not just the greatest closer of all-time. Out of his 18 seasons, Rivera has been an all-star 13 times. His first being in 1997 and his last being this season, 2013. He’s pitched in 9 of those games, where he has given up no earned runs and only 5 hits. Not so surprising when you take a look at his overall stats, which I will be sure to break down when the season comes to an end.

The first half of the season had memorable moments such as Homer Bailey throwing his 2nd career no-hitter against the Giants and not even 2 weeks later, Tim Lincecum of the Giants threw his own no-hitter against the Padres. Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles is hitting .315 with 70 runs, 35 home runs, and 93 RBIs, while last year’s triple crown winner, Miguel Cabrera is hitting .365 with 73 runs, 30 home runs, and 95 RBIs. We’re in for another great half of the season, which will be filled with individual milestones, trades, and most importantly, the race to the post season. Here are my grades from the first half!

{The standings below reflect my predictions from the beginning of the season}
[Numbers in brackets and bold reflect where the team is in the standings now]

NL East
1) Atlanta Braves                [1]   B+
2) Washington Nationals     [2]    C-
3) Philadelphia Phillies        [3]    C 
4) New York Mets               [4]    D+
5) Miami Marlins                 [5]    D-

Analysis: If Atlanta was healthier, they would be running away with this division. Most would say they already are, but the type of players Washington has in the rotation and in their lineup, they can always make a run. This is a 2 team race for the division, but there is also a good chance Washington makes a run for the Wild Card. The Phillies made it to .500 on the last day of the first half, but I feel like with Howard getting hurt, they may be looking to trade away some pieces. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them give up Utley and possibly Ruiz to get some prospects in return and look into the future. The Braves have a lot of upside when they get Beachy back and if BJ Upton and Dan Uggla ever get their batting average above .250.

NL Central
1) Cincinnati Reds        [3]   B+
2) St. Louis Cardinals   [1]   A+
3) Pittsburgh Pirates     [2]   A
4) Milwaukee Brewers  [5]   F
5) Chicago Cubs           [4]   C

Analysis: I give the Reds a B+ because even though they are sitting in 3rd, the top 3 teams in this division may still make the playoffs. The Reds would be in 2nd place or maybe even first place if they were in other division. They just need to be a little more effective on the road. Pittsburgh is the team to talk about because everything is clicking for them. They have solid starting pitching, bullpen, and hitting. I expect to see them make a move or two to bulk up their rotation so they can compete with St. Louis down the stretch. Just a few things to look for, the Brewers and Cubs are basically out of it, so watch for them to move some of their players, such as Matt Garza and Alfonso Soriano, and they may be on contenders by August.

NL West
1) San Francisco Giants     [4]   D+
2) Los Angeles Dodgers     [2]   A-
3) San Diego Padres          [5]   D-
4) Arizona Diamondbacks  [1]   B+
5) Colorado Rockies           [3]   C

Analysis: So this division is just confusing and jumbled from what I originally thought. I wouldn’t count San Francisco out of it yet, but they REALLY need some hitting. I wouldn’t be surprised if they looked to trade Lincecum for some hitting in return. Also, they have a solid bullpen guy, Javier Lopez that can probably be used as a closer elsewhere. Detroit would love a guy like that. The Dodgers have really picked it up since they promoted Puig to the majors and really gave them some life. They made a deal to bring Nolasco to help the starters and I don’t think they are done. Getting Matt Kemp back healthy would be like trading for an upgrade also. Arizona is hanging onto first for dear life, but I still think they will drop out of the playoff hunt, but probably not 4th like I originally predicted.

AL East
1) Tampa Bay Rays      [2]    A
2) Toronto Blue Jays    [5]     D
3) Boston Red Sox       [1]    A
4) New York Yankees   [4]    B-
5) Baltimore Orioles      [3]    B+

Analysis: So I was completely wrong about Toronto and Baltimore, but that’s okay. I still think Tampa will take the division and they are only 2.5 games out of first to start the second half. They always seem to make a second half run and they are better mid-season this year than they have been in the past. I like Baltimore’s team especially if Chris Davis, Adam Jones, and the rest of their lineup can keep up the pace, but they won’t be able to do it without another starter. Maybe Matt Garza is in their future. Boston is hanging in there and still has a great chance to make the playoffs, but the end of their bullpen has had injury issues and Clay Bucholtz needs to come back healthy as Jon Lester has been struggling. The Yankees should get Derek Jeter back soon and possibly A-Rod, but I still don’t think they have much of a chance this season.

AL Central
1) Detroit Tigers             [1]   A
2) Cleveland Indians      [2]   B+
3) Chicago White Sox    [5]   D-
4) Kansas City Royals    [3]   B
5) Minnesota Twins        [4]   D

Analysis: The Tigers will look to improve their team for the playoffs because they will definitely be getting in. Miguel Cabrera is having another incredible season and their pitching staff has been impressive as well. Many didn’t think Cleveland would be hanging around as long as they have, but I liked their team to start the season, but can they hang on? Aside from the last week, KC had brought themselves back up and is making it a race somewhat. A young team that is starting to put it together and they have a bright future, but probably not this season.

AL West
1) Los Angeles Angels  [3]    D
2) Oakland Athletics     [1]    A+
3) Seattle Mariners       [4]    C
4) Texas Rangers        [2]    B+
5) Houston Astros        [5]    F

Analysis: The Oakland Athletics are the most enjoyable team to watch in the AL, and quite possibly the league. They have a ton of likable guys and a lot of talent. I foresee them making moves at the trade deadline and may be a good destination for Chase Utley or Carlos Ruiz. The Angels are one of those teams that had high expectations yet again going into this season and is just not performing. They have high priced guys like Josh Hamilton, CJ Wilson, and Albert Pujols that just aren’t putting up great numbers and may be making too much to trade away. Texas has been one of the most consistent teams in the majors over the last 5 seasons and they continue to do it with both pitching and hitting. They are a shoe in for the playoffs, its just a matter of beating out Oakland for home field and NOT the wild card.

National League Grade Book: May

NL East
1) Atlanta Braves              (C)
2) Washington Nationals   (C-)
3) Philadelphia Phillies      (D)
4) New York Mets             (D-)
5) Miami Marlins               (F)

Analysis: First of all I’ll say, what is up with this division. If you saw the numbers from the month of May, you would think Atlanta should be running away with the division as early as it is. Before I touch on the rest of the division, maybe I’m a little critical of Atlanta since they had such a great first month and I still believe they’ll take it all the way to the World Series. They scored over 120 runs, but gave up 110. Not the ratio you would want, but makes sense they went 15-13 for the month. They still have B.J. Upton struggling with the bat and their pitching wasn’t as good (but still good) for the month. They were unable to capitalize on the poor month the rest of the division had. The grade was purely given based on unable to take advantage of the rest of the division’s piss poor play.

The rest of the division didn’t even score over 100 runs, which also means the rest of the division gave up more runs overall than what they scored. Now wonder why Atlanta is only up by 4.5 games in the division. Washington would be the only other team making a run at them and their offense is stinking it up to say it lightly. Stratsburg hasn’t been great, Gio Gonzalez dropped off and Dan Haren has gotten better, but is still inconsistent. They also went 15-13 for the month, so they should be satisfied they aren’t too far down in the standings.

It only gets worse from here folks. The Phillies went 14-14 for the month, but they only scored 92 runs and gave up 120. Yikes. Cole Hamels is on a massive decline, Roy Halladay may not just be out for the season, but for his career, and Cliff Lee is not the ace he used to be. Maybe it’s time to revamp this team completely.

The New York Mets got a B+ from me last month, but this month not so much. They also struggled with the bat and also in their rotation. They went 12-15 (which includes a sweep of the NY Yankees) and they scored a measly 88 runs and gave up 126 runs. Double yikes. This is probably what was expected more along the lines of what they had in April. Not sure if there will be much improving, but sweeping the other New York team is a good start.

Oh it does get worse from here when the team I thought would be the worst in the league and possibly worst ever is in this division. I’m talking about the Miami Marlins. They went 6-22 for the month and the only surprising part of that is they TIED for the worst in the league for the month of May. They managed to score 79 runs and gave up 121, which isn’t a shock when they don’t have anyone to drive in runs. Giancarlo Stanton would be the only one that could do it and he’s sitting on the DL. It’s sad to watch, but if you get a laugh over a sad team, then they would be the one to watch.

NL Central
1) Cincinnati Reds        (A)
2) St. Louis Cardinals   (A+)
3) Pittsburgh Pirates     (A)
4) Milwaukee Brewers  (F)
5) Chicago Cubs           (C+)

Analysis: This division is the complete opposite of what I spoke about in the NL East. Like I thought when I first predicted these standings above, any of those top 3 teams can finish in first and they always seem to switch their positioning. The Reds get an A for this month and that’s after going 19-8, scoring 136 runs while giving up 93 runs. Out of all of that they are tied for 2nd place at the end of May. Seriously? Yeah, it gets better from here. The Reds offense is in full stride and their starting pitching down to their bullpen and closer is excellent. A fully fundamental team to watch.

So how are the Reds an A and the Cardinals get an A+? Well at the moment they are sitting in first place after going 20-7 in the month of May. Purely dominating. They scored 133 runs and gave up 85. The more impressive part for me which earned them the A+ is that they ALWAYS seem to struggle with guys getting injured, but it doesn’t mean they struggle in performing. They have injuries in the infield and also in their starting pitching AND bullpen. They just have guys that fill in and step up to the plate (no pun intended). Rookie pitcher Shelby Miller has acted as an ace and they will continue to improve as the season progresses.

The Penguins aren’t the only good team in Pittsburgh right now. The Pirates are sitting tied for 2nd at the end of May with the Reds after going 19-9. The runs scored surely drops with the Pirates and as I mentioned for the month of April, I think they can use another big bat in the lineup. But they are that type of scrappy team that can win games 1-0, because their pitching only gave up 76 runs for the whole month of May. What an incredible top 3 teams in this division, it would be a shame if any of these teams miss out on the playoffs.

So I hope you enjoyed the stats for the first 3 teams I mentioned because it gets a ton worse from here. I mentioned earlier that the Miami Marlins tied with the worst record in May with a team and that team happens to be Milwaukee. Who thought that would be the team? A team that has Ryan Braun swinging the bat and Gallardo on the mound, you would think they’d have more than 6 wins in a month, right? Wrong. They went 6-22, and who is looking forward to the Marlins vs. Brewers series? They’ve given up a whopping 148 runs while only scoring 98. There’s only one place to go from here and that’s up…for their sake.

I gave the Cubs a C+ and that’s a little deceiving maybe. They are under .500 by 7 games, but they finished the month on a 5 game winning streak. They also got Matt Garza back from the DL, which adds a consistent starter to the rotation. The hitting has started to pick it up, including Rizzo who got on a hot streak in the beginning of the month. They finished the month with a 13-14 record, but they scored 129 runs and gave up 99 runs. They definitely improved and maybe they will continue to do so, but still shouldn’t compete with the big 3 in this division.

NL West
1) San Francisco Giants     (C-)
2) Los Angeles Dodgers     (F)
3) San Diego Padres          (C+)
4) Arizona Diamondbacks  (B+)
5) Colorado Rockies          (D)

Analysis: So I guess the Central is the only good division in the National League for the month of May. I still believe the Giants will take the division, but they have looked mediocre as of late. They currently sit in 2nd place only 1 game behind 1st and even though they finished going 14-13 for the month, I believe they hung in there because they win games that matter. What I mean by that is they win games within their division. Their pitching has struggled over the last month with Cain giving up too many long balls, Lincecum hasn’t found his groove, and Zito lost his mojo from April. This team is way too talented to fall off, so I think they will have a very good June.

Unlike the other team in LA, the Dodgers have not improved. They are also dealing with tons of injuries from the pitching staff to their infield and outfield, with the latest victim being Matt Kemp. In all reality, Matt Kemp wasn’t putting up stellar numbers anyway, so what are they missing from this? Don Mattingly seemed to stir up the pot after sitting Ethier for “not trying” and they just don’t have an identity in their lineup when players are always getting a day off. I still don’t know what their lineup really looks like. They need more than Kershaw to make progress in this division. I think they need to make a coaching staff in order for this team to put something together. They finished May by going 10-17 and scoring under 100 runs. The amount of money spent on their offense, that is clearly unacceptable.

The Padres get a C+ even thought they finished May by going 14-13, which actually happens to be 2nd best in their division. They’ve played in tight games all month and they aren’t a push over. Do I still think they’ll finish the division in 3rd? Not really, but they have so many young players that may not have much to play for towards the end of the year, they may play spoilers. I’ll still keep my eye on them.

Before the season I definitely thought Arizona was going through a major facelift by trading Justin Upton and they just have too many outfielders in knowing what to do with them, but the refreshing part about the D-Backs is their pitching rotation, and I’m not even talking about Ian Kennedy. They have been getting great performances from Corbin and Miley for the first 2 months of the season. The pitching staff is where it happens for this team and as long as they have that they’ll compete for division.

I didn’t give Colorado any credit leading up into the season and they got a good grade from me last month, but this month they dropped down as I expected. They scored 120 and gave up 120, so they are just about average right now. Their pitching staff came back down to Earth and I see a steady decline from them starting June 1st.

American League Grade Book: May

The baseball regular season is in full stride as the 2nd month of the season comes to a close. It’s funny how the standings can change drastically from one month to another. Usually by the time June rolls around, there is a strong sense of what type of teams you have that will be contenders in October. Out of all honesty, I was disappointed with some of the performances by teams across the league in April. The month of May was a new beginning for many teams and the saying for baseball is, “its not a sprint, it’s a marathon” is as true as it gets when there is such a long season in front of these teams.

I’ll continue to rank these teams by the way I predicted it to go during spring training. Lets jump right in!

American League

AL East
1) Tampa Bay Rays    (B)
2) Toronto Blue Jays  (D)
3) Boston Red Sox     (C)
4) New York Yankees (C)
5) Baltimore Orioles   (B)

Analysis: I give Tampa Bay a B and that’s even saying that Tampa is currently in 2nd to last place in their division. I still have confidence that it won’t end that way. It just shows how bad the first month of the season was for the Rays. They’ve been streaking in the win department over the last week of the month. Their pitching has been great, lead by Matt Moore (not David Price). Price landed himself on the DL and you look at a Rays team who found their offense and is finding a way to win games. They were 18-10 in the month of May, which is the best in the AL East. Continue to watch this team climb up the standings.

Toronto still disappoints me and truthfully, I’m disappointed in myself for picking a team to finish so high in the standings when they haven’t proved anything quite yet. They are team plagued with injuries and their pitching staff has been a massive disappointment thus far. They were 13-14 in the month of May, which was worst in the division. Lets just say they need to do everything a little better to climb the standings, which is tough to do when you have such a competitive division.

The Red Sox get a C, which is not bad, nor is it good. They are right in the middle or just average to me right now. They also went through a string of injuries with David Ortiz, Middlebrooks, Bailey, Hanrahan, and most recently Clay Bucholtz (which may not be too serious). They finish the month in first place, which is obviously better than I was hoping to see or expecting. This month was a decline for them as they finished the month going 15-15. Average right? If they get healthy, I still see this team hanging around for a little longer.

The Yankees got swept by the Mets. That may be the first time that I can remember that happening for quite some time. The Yankees have also been average to me and their record in May shows that as they went 15-13. The offense for the Yankees is not what you expect to see, especially in recent years, yet they still seem to be hanging in there. I’m not sure how long they’ll stick on the top of the division if injuries keep piling up. That’s the number one priority for this team if they plan to make the playoffs and that’s getting their lineup healthy.

Baltimore has still impressed me. I picked them to finish last after having such a great season last year. I thought the youth in their team would shine through, but Buck is doing a great job coaching the Orioles. Their offense is stacked and on paper they look like an excellent team and they are getting great pitching from a rotation that do not have any house hold names. I’m convinced this team isn’t going to disappear.

AL Central
1) Detroit Tigers            (C)
2) Cleveland Indians     (A)
3) Chicago White Sox   (C)
4) Kansas City Royals   (F)
5) Minnesota Twins       (D)

Analysis: So this is starting to sort the way I imagined, however, I still don’t see the Tigers doing what they SHOULD be doing. Maybe I’m being too critical of Detroit, but I feel like they should have a much better record with the type of offense they have and most definitely the pitching they have. I feel like every time the pitching staff delivers a gem, they get no offense to support it. I think eventually they’ll hit the gas and keep their foot on the pedal, but right now they haven’t reached that point for me.

Cleveland is exactly where I thought. Again, not to toot my own horn, but I had a feeling they would be competing. They were a division best going 18-12 in the month of May and scoring over 140 runs. That’s approximately 4.6 runs a game, which will always give you a chance to win ballgames. Their pitching has dropped off since the opening month, but when you’re offense is hot, it makes things easier for sure. They’ve struggled the last week of the month, but so has the rest of the division.

The White Sox are a little tricky still I feel. I don’t think they’ve found their identity yet and if they haven’t found it, then I have no clue. They were about .500 for the month of May, they are under .500 on the season record, but they are hanging in 3rd place. That may have a little to do with the bottom feeders of the division, but as long as they hang in there, they can always make a few moves to improve the team. Specifically on the offensive side as they scored less than 100 runs this month.

Oh boy, here’s my analysis on the Royals. They were bad….very, very, very bad. I gave them a B last month, but they get an F this month and it wasn’t even a hard decision. They went a whopping 8-20 this last month scoring just above 100 runs. Not much to say about them other than they have such young hitters and none of them have amounted to anything. It’s definitely a struggle to watch, but maybe they can get some talent for James Shields if they look to trade him at the deadline, because I know any contender would love to have him.

Minnesota has not been much better. They got a B+ from me last month and they moved down to a D. I knew last month may have just been a fluke of the opening month to a season. They went 12-17 in May and even though they scored 130 runs this month, their pitching has been atrocious by giving up around 150. Continue to see this team decline, they need a lot of help.

AL West
1) LA Angels             (A)
2) Oakland Athletics  (B+)
3) Seattle Mariners    (C-)
4) Texas Rangers      (A+)
5) Houston Astros      (F)

Analysis: Look who finally decided to show up…Yeah, I’m talking about the Angels. I gave them a full swing by giving them an F last month and an A this month. Needless to say, the offense woke up. They score over 130 runs and their offense has pulled a lot of games together and has looked impressive. Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols is finally getting in the flow of things, while their pitching has been solid as well. What’s even better than that? They get Jared Weaver back from the DL. They are still under .500 for the season, but in the month of May they  went 16-12. You can continue to watch the Angels climb up.

The Athletics are continuing to stay consistent. I’m not really surprised as I thought they’d finish 2nd, but the question is, can the offense continue to step it up. They got Coco Crisp and Cespedes back from the DL, but they are getting massive offensive production from Donaldson and Seth Smith that needs to continue.  I fully expect the A’s to make a move at the trade deadline, especially in the pitching rotation. They have Colon and a bunch of young arms that haven’t done too well, but are keeping them in games.

The Mariners are getting frustrating. Morse has been injury prone for most of this month and they are just average once again this month. The only constant successful point on their team is King Felix and that isn’t a surprise to anybody. I thought the young offensive talent they had would start to light it up, but I haven’t seen that yet. Maybe a coaching change in the near future?

I didn’t expect this at all from Texas, and that’s obvious from where I put them in my predictions. It just proves how great of a manager Ron Washington has been for them. As I said last month about the Rangers is that they always seem to lose their talent to other teams, but they hang around and they just know how to groom talent in their farm and that’s always respectable. They were a division best 17-11 in the month of May with no sights of slowing down.

From one team in Texas to the next are on two opposite ends of the spectrum. Houston made the move into the American League this year and unfortunately for them, they got placed into a division that has teams like Texas, Los Angeles, and Oakland who are all capable of finishing in 1st place. Houston went 9-18 in the month of May and that came as expected. They now only have 17 wins for the season, which is worst in the American League. The only good thing is they seem to have the Angels’ number so far in the young season.

Stay tuned for my grade book for the National League for the month of May!

National League Grade Book: April

NL East

1) Atlanta Braves           (A+)
2) Washington Nationals    (C)
3) Philadelphia Phillies       (D)
4) New York Mets               (B+)
5) Miami Marlins                 (F)

Analysis: Atlanta is right where I thought they would be. They are clearly the strongest team not just in the offensive side, but also in pitching. They have a strong rotation, bullpen, and probably the strongest to close it out with Kimbrell. They are at around a +40 runs for/against differential with one month down and they can win both at home and on the road. Justin Upton is tearing it up in his new uniform and can you imagine how they will be when BJ Upton breaks his slump and they get Brian McCann and Beachy back from the DL. They are on track for my World Series prediction.

Washington gets an average grade from me. They have not looked great at all and really in the pitching department. When they played Atlanta at home, Atlanta crushed them in the 3-game series. Strasburg has looked beatable, not to mention Gio Gonzalez’s stuff has looked soft. Bryce Harper has gotten off to a great start, but not much help elsewhere with Ryan Zimmerman hitting the DL already. I think they’ll climb out of it, but I don’t see them as a sinking ship just yet.

Philadelphia I expected more out of. Ryan Howard has been hitting decently, but not with power. Actually, Philadelphia as a whole hasn’t been hitting with much power at all. Their pitching has been spotty so far especially from Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee. The question is will they break the slump, will they give prospects a chance, or will they trade for help. A little too early to tell just yet.

New York has looked like a good team, but the worry is will they stay healthy. If recent years tell you anything then the answer is no. Matt Harvey has looked outstanding to start the season and their offense is another team where you may not recognize a lot of names, but they are putting up lots of runs in the early going.

Miami’s section I’ll keep to a minimum, just like their run production. They may be the worst team in the league or at least compete hard for that role. They don’t enjoy scoring runs or really even getting on base. Giancarlo Stanton was out for about a week with an injury, but managed to stay of the DL. He started slow last year as well and got hot in May. The problem with that is, if he gets hot in May, look to see the Marlins ship him out of Miami and really take a nose dive.

NL Central
1) Cincinnati Reds        (B+)
2) St. Louis Cardinals   (A-)
3) Pittsburgh Pirates     (B)
4) Milwaukee Brewers  (C)
5) Chicago Cubs           (D)

Analysis: Cincinnati only gets a B+ from me. I know, I know. Why so harsh for a team who has already scored over 110 runs after the first month. Mainly because it was expected that they would be doing something like that. The only quirk I have with the Reds right now is they had a very heavy home schedule for the first month and have dominated with it. They had a light road schedule and struggled with it so far. I expect that to change over time.

St. Louis is always near the top aren’t they? They get an A- because they are not only scoring runs, but they aren’t giving up a lot either. They aren’t a pretty team, but they always seem to get the job done. It’s that scrappy type of team that wins games with hit and runs, stealing bases, and bunting the runners over. They’ll compete with Cincinnati all year and should be enjoyable.

Pittsburgh also gets a good grade from even though they have been struggling with run production, but their pitching has kept them in games. They are about even with runs for/against and I think in this division they have the opportunity to finish middle of the pack. If they hang in there long enough, maybe they’ll make some trades to boost up that pitching staff.

Milwaukee gets an average grade from me, but that’s not a bad thing. They’ve performed a lot better than I had expected they would be, but again it’s still early into the year. They have been performing much like Pittsburgh has, but they’ve scored more runs, but also given up more. I think the lack of pitching will catch up with them in no time.

Chicago is not a surprise to be stuck in the cellar this early in the year. Truthfully, they haven’t looked much better than the Marlins. Rizzo leads the club in homers, but he’s hitting under .200. They are still without Matt Garza and they keep giving Carlos Marmol opportunities to close out games. Why wouldn’t this club give Sandberg a chance to manage? I’d look to see them continue to drop out of contention and probably trade away Soriano to a team looking for a bat. Gotta feel bad for those Cubs fans.

NL West
1) San Francisco Giants     (B-)
2) Los Angeles Dodgers     (F)
3) San Diego Padres          (F)
4) Arizona Diamondbacks   (B)
5) Colorado Rockies           (A)

Analysis: First of all, this division is crazy to start the season and not at all as I expected. The San Francisco Giants gets a pretty good grade to start the season, which are lead by Buster Posey. Their strong part of their team always remains their pitching staff led by Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, but Barry Zito has gotten off to a nice impressive start and Madison Bumgarner is continuing to show his skill. I think the Giants are in a good spot and will only improve.

I’m going to be harsh with the Los Angeles Dodgers because they are my home team and get to follow them a lot. There’s a lot of things I can say, but I’ll keep it G rated and say they are just lame. They struggle with scoring runs and knocking in runners in scoring position. They have a ton of injuries including Greinke and Billingsley. The bright spot has been Carl Crawford and Clayton Kershaw. Adrian Gonzalez has also looked sharp, but the problem is the lineup in general and the lack of runs being scored. (No mention of Matt Kemp is intentional). They are in the same situation as the Angels as I’m concerned. If they don’t figure it out soon, expect some firings.

San Diego also gets an F and that probably shouldn’t be a surprise. I did pick them to finish 3rd in this division, but I expected growing pains. I thought they would make more of a run toward the end of the year when they start bringing up prospects. As bad as they have been, they are around the same run differential as the Dodgers. Ouch.

Arizona has shown great offense in the first month of the season. Their pitching has been average as well and I expect them to keep it up. I think they have a high ceiling for their success this season especially if Adam Eaton gets healthy and they bring him up to the Majors around the All-Star break. They are also enjoyable to watch and a greatly managed team.

Colorado has been a shock to me. I picked them to finish last and there is still a chance for that, but they had a great first month to the season. They are among the tops of runs scored in the National League and they have been great at home, where runs are obviously scored. They have had strong offensive production from CarGo, Tulo, Helton and Fowler. The problem is I don’t know many of their pitchers. Actually, I know one. De La Rosa is their ace and the rest of their starters are: Garland, Nicasio, and Francis. Can the starters keep up the good work? We’ll see where they end up next month.

American League Grade Book: April

The first month of the baseball season has come and gone and there are some teams that made some strong impressions for both good and the bad. I will list the teams below as I picked them to finish and put a grade letter next to them (“A+” being the best and “F” being the worst). I’ll had some critiques as well, as usual.

American League

AL East
1) Tampa Bay Rays      (D)
2) Toronto Blue Jays     (F)
3) Boston Red Sox       (B)
4) New York Yankees   (C)
5) Baltimore Orioles     (B+)

Analysis: Tampa Bay has been lackluster to start this season, especially their offense which is non-existent. If they expect to win the division, they have to score runs when runners are in position. Of course its only the first month of the season, but they’ve shown struggles scoring runs and also getting victories on the road.

Toronto has been the most disappointing. It seems to happen every year with higher hopes that the team will break through and get into the playoffs. They made a lot of acquisitions in the off-season which has panned out for them yet. Their pitching has been atrocious and of course it doesn’t help that Jose Reyes is already on the DL.

Boston as a city as been through a lot in April, but their baseball team is better than most expected them to be. Hanrahan got dinged up early and thought maybe it’s another long year for the Boston bullpen. Andrew Bailey stepped in great and their offense has looked good. Just in time for Ortiz that returned from the DL towards the end of the month, but Clay Bucholtz has been unbelievable for the first month.

New York is right where I expected them to be. Their pitching has been average, but mostly keeping them in games with a not-so-great offense. A lot of their offensive players are older players that may not amount to anything when the season ends. But the Yankees need them to hang on until they get their star power back in the lineup.

Baltimore has the best grade in this division from me for the month of April. Mainly because I had them finishing dead last. They have almost the same team as they did last year with a lot of young talent. Their offense has looked sharp, especially Adam Jones. I’d be interested to see where they are at the end of May.

AL Central
1) Detroit Tigers             (C)
2) Cleveland Indians      (C)
3) Chicago White Sox    (D)
4) Kansas City Royals    (B)
5) Minnesota Twins        (B+)

Analysis: Detroit gets an average grade from me only because one would expect so much from a team of that caliber. They will be fine by the end of the season, but the first month of the season they got off to a slow start. Verlander hasn’t looked to be the top pitcher you would expect, but again, not worried, it’s still very early in the year.

Cleveland also gets an average grade from me. Their offense has had the spurts I knew they had the potential for. Other than Masterson, their pitching has been somewhat forgettable. I still feel confident that they have the opportunity to squeak in the playoffs and finish in 2nd in this division. It’s very wide open after the first month.

Chicago gets a D. Plain and simple. They were a good team last year, but so far this year they haven’t put anything together and on top of that, they are boring to watch. Not a lot of run support to help out their pitching which has been fairly decent so far.

Kansas City has been a surprise to me. I think their pitching has really kept them in it so far. The additions of James Shields and Ervin Santana has helped them out big time. Their offense hasn’t even clicked yet. If Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas can heat up at some point, they may have a dangerous team with the addition to Billy Butler.

Minnesota is the bigger surprise, hence the better grade…just by a smidge. I thought Minnesota would be one of the worst teams this season and of course there is still time for that to unfold. I think they have benefited from a somewhat weak schedule to start the season and also they seem to get postponed a lot. By the end of May they have a good chance to be where I figured they would be.

AL West
1) LA Angels     (F)
2) Oakland Athletics     (A-)
3) Seattle Mariners       (D)
4) Texas Rangers         (A)
5) Houston Astros         (C)

Analysis: LA Angels have been awful. With a lineup like that they should not be struggling for yet the second season in a row. They can’t score runs AND their pitching has been bad. It doesn’t help that Jared Weaver is on the DL, but the rest of the starters haven’t helped out either. Their bullpen has been shaky as well. For a team that can’t score any runs and then you look at their lineup and you see names like Pujols, Hamilton, Trout, and Trumbo you should question why they haven’t been winning games. Maybe it’s just a slow start and they’ll pick it up, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a hitting coach or Manager to be fired if they don’t pick it up soon.

Oakland gets a very good grade from me, partly because I figured they would be near the top for most of the season, but their offense has been outstanding. I believe they have the most runs scored in the AL so far this season and they are always a team that lacks star players, yet they always seem to be good. They are led by Coco Crisp and Jed Lowrie. The question is will they keep it up, get help, or will their pitching remain at a constant high to help out their offense when they go cold.

Seattle has been disappointing to me so far this year. I thought they would be much better, but they are yet another team that is struggling with the bat. On top of that, their pitching hasn’t been great either other than King Felix. There is still a potential for them, but I’d like to see them bring up some of their prospects earlier rather than later.

Texas is getting an A from me because I didn’t see them competing at the top. Every year they seem to lose some of their best players in recent years, which all seem to flurry to the Angels (CJ Wilson and Josh Hamilton), yet its the Rangers that remain a team to beat in the West. The best thing is, I don’t think we’ve seen the best of Texas either with some of the young prospects not in the Majors yet. Darvish is also looking like the Ace they want and need.

Houston gets an average grade from me because I thought they would be much worse. Their offense has been better than Seattle and they are close in runs scored with Texas. They’ve shown they can score runs and show a little future potential. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think they have potential this season, but refreshing that they may not lose 120 games this season like many predicted.

Check back tomorrow for the National League grades from the month of April!

2013 MLB Predictions

American League

AL East
1) Tampa Bay Rays
2) Toronto Blue Jays
3) Boston Red Sox
4) New York Yankees
5) Baltimore Orioles

AL Central
1) Detroit Tigers
2) Cleveland Indians
3) Chicago White Sox
4) Kansas City Royals
5) Minnesota Twins

AL West
1) LA Angels
2) Oakland Athletics
3) Seattle Mariners
4) Texas Rangers
5) Houston Astros

AL Division Winners:
1) Detroit Tigers
2) Tampa Bay Rays
3) Los Angeles Angels
Wild Card:
4) Toronto Blue Jays
5) Cleveland Indians

AL Champions:
Tampa Bay Rays

National League

NL East
1) Atlanta Braves
2) Washington Nationals
3) Philadelphia Phillies
4) New York Mets
5) Miami Marlins

NL Central
1) Cincinnati Reds
2) St. Louis Cardinals
3) Pittsburgh Pirates
4) Milwaukee Brewers
5) Chicago Cubs

NL West
1) San Francisco Giants
2) Los Angeles Dodgers
3) San Diego Padres
4) Arizona Diamondbacks
5) Colorado Rockies

NL Division Winners:
1) Cincinnati Reds
2) Atlanta Braves
3) San Francisco Giants
Wild Card:
4) Los Angeles Dodgers
5) St. Louis Cardinals

NL Champions:
Atlanta Braves

World Series Champions:
Atlanta Braves

Fantasy Baseball Around the Corner

The first of two fantasy baseball drafts was last night in which I feel I did fairly well with along with my 10 keepers I’ve mentioned in a post previously. There’s a time in the draft where you set up players — watching them, making sure no one steals them from you. It’s not just with baseball drafts, but with all sports. All fantasy owners can relate to holding off on drafting a player a little too soon, then someone takes him right before your next pick. This happened to me at least twice in last night’s draft. Two players I wanted and didn’t get was Alex Cobb (pitcher from the Tampa Bay Rays) and also Adam Eaton (outfielder from the Arizona Diamondbacks).

My team lacks pitching and Cobb was one of those guys that I was just waiting for. I traded away two picks in the offseason that took me out of two straight rounds. As I sit waiting to draft Cobb he goes to a team right before me. Burns a tad. I had him on my team last year and decided not to keep him. He has had a solid spring thus far and like most Rays pitching as of late, they’ve been solid during the regular season. With Tampa trading away James Shields (who I also own), it leaves a clear open spot for Alex Cobb to run away with the spot in the rotation. I can always hope for a trade or at the very least, a slow start and the owner drops him to free agency.

The other player was Adam Eaton. Some may not have heard of him, but he’s on everyone’s prospect watch. He may not turn out to be exactly like Mike Trout, but he’s a supposed 5-tool player in waiting. He will give you batting average, speed for stolen bases and on base % and power for RBI’s and homers. I didn’t want to draft him too early when I can get players that will play to start the season, but I waited one round too long. There is always an opportunity to snag him during the season if he isn’t brought up right away and their owner gets impatient and releases him or acquire in a trade. Depending on how I start my season, I may take a risk and offer a good player for a potential star.

As I mentioned before, my pitching is lacking and it definitely needs work. The following players are my players on my roster to start the season:

C – Matt Wieters *
1B- Ryan Howard *
2B – Neil Walker
SS – Andrelton Simmons
3B – Ryan Zimmerman *
OF – Giancarlo Stanton *
OF – Michael Morse *
OF – Desmond Jennings
Util – Anthony Rizzo

P – Yovani Gallardo *
P – Mike Minor *
P – James Shields *
P – Tommy Hanson *
P – Jeremy Hellickson *
P – Trevor Cahill
P – Matt Garza
P – Clay Bucholtz
P – Brandon League
P – Shelby Miller

The names that have an asterisk after it are the players that I kept prior to the draft. In the hitting departments, I’ve added some players that add speed for the stolen bases that I was lacking. In the pitching department, I’m lacking closers. That was done intentionally knowing that closers change very often throughout the season. Whether it be a close that gets shelled too many times in a row or pitchers that just simply get injured and lose that job. I’m also satisfied that I got Shelby Miller who is the Cardinals young prospect pitcher that may start in the bullpen, but has great stuff and may be inserted into the starting rotation at some point this season (hopefully sooner, rather than later).

Here’s to a great baseball season and hopefully the beginning of a great, happy, not so stressful season!

A Long Wait..

Needless to say, it’s been a long time since I’ve written and a lot of big events has happened in the meantime. Baseball game to an end, fantasy football stunk (as usual), Ray Lewis ends his career with his 2nd Super Bowl ring, Alabama wins another championship, Manti Te’o and his invisible girlfriend are household names, the NBA is approaching the all-star break, and we’re a month away from March Madness.

So after everything that has happened…where do I start? It’s not quite the time for MLB predictions quite yet, but in my money keeper league, keepers have been locked and now it’s looking forward to the draft in March. This league allows teams to select 10 keepers (no restriction to how many batters or pitchers). There are some key players I wanted to keep, or whom I tried to trade for extra draft picks and was unsuccessful. The ten guys I kept:

1) Matt Wieters
2) Ryan Howard
3) Ryan Zimmerman
4) Giancarlo Stanton
5) Michael Morse
6) Yovani Gallardo
7) Mike Minor
8) James Shields
9) Tommy Hanson
10) Jeremy Hellickson

The two guys I was deciding on possibly keeping were Fernando Rodney (closer of Tampa) and Ian Kinsler (2B of Texas). I decided on keeping Morse instead of Kinsler even though Morse is now part of the Mariners OF instead of Washington, but I made a trade for him late in the year where in part of the trade I gave up Trumbo. I felt the need to keep Morse at this point. My pitching was my worst part last year and made a lot of offseason changes to help my keeper list in this regard. Keeping a closer is always difficult since the spot of a closer is never held tight unless your name happens to be Mariano Rivera. It was a hard decision, but the chances of Rodney getting 40 saves again and having an under 1 ERA are slim. I’m taking my chances with Hanson, even in the American League.

Changing modes, March Madness is not far away which means my annual trip to Las Vegas for the first few rounds (Wednesday through Sunday) is approaching. This season I have been studying who I like. Define “like”. Liking a team isn’t as simple as saying, I’m a Gator fan, so yeah, I like them to win some games in March. Do I see them getting a favorable seed, winning games, advancing far into the tourney, or getting a bad draw? Also, how do these teams I “like” do well in spreads. These are all key questions that I still haven’t figured out. At the moment, here are the top 5 teams I “like”:

1) Florida Gators – Okay, I know I just mentioned them above, but one thing I like about this team is that they are greatly coached and have a stellar defense. They have beaten down the SEC opponents (keeping in mind the SEC is weak). In all their wins in conference, it’s been above 14 points. If they win the SEC, they’ll get a great seed. Probably a 2 and a chance at a 1. They may have an easy first few rounds.

2) Indiana Hoosiers – Indiana is a treat to watch. The biggest positive I have on this is playing in the toughest conference in the NCAA. Every game is a challenge and that will only benefit them moving into the tourney. They have several leaders that can score at will. I don’t have many doubts in gambling on them to cover spreads if they play a mid major or two early.

3) Michigan Wolverines – Sure, they’ve lost some heartbreakers lately, but there is no question that they are skilled. There is a reason why I have multiple teams in my top 5 from the Big 10. A lot of people would say, well, they lost to Indiana, what makes you think they can beat them in the tourney? They may not need to until the Final 4 or Championship. If both teams grab a 1 seed or one a two seed, then they won’t run into each other early.

4) Kansas Jayhawks – They’ve had a rough stretch where they lost 3 games in a row. Does that scare me? Obviously not. I still think they are one of the most talented teams in the country. They also have a ton of experience in the tournament. The Big 12 was a questionable conference, but at the moment there are 3 teams in the top 25 from the conference and Oklahoma is looking in and may make the tourney also. Kansas should still get a high ranking and people will forget about their tough stretch of losses.

5) Miami Hurricanes – They are ranked third in the country in one poll and they are another team that has a great core. They basically came out of nowhere since they were unranked to start the year. They have beaten both Duke and UNC at home in blowouts and are undefeated in the ACC (which isn’t too shabby of a conference if you ask me). Miami are a surprise team, but should not be taken lightly heading into the tourney.

Quickly, I’ll run through the five teams that I don’t favor so much. It’s not that I don’t “like” these teams, but they may be hard to read pending on their match ups. Lets call them by top 5 nightmares:

1) Arizona Wildcats – They are 20-3 at the moment. How is this team a nightmare team? The PAC-12 is deceiving and have a feeling it’s going to kill me on a lot of picks. Four of their 20 wins should have been losses. They play in tight games where they can swing a spread. If they are favored by a big margin, I’m sure to take the underdog in those, but for a team with such a good record, who really knows?

2) Wisconsin Badgers – There will be some Big 10 teams on this list as well. Wisconsin has won some nice looking games and of course they will in a conference that gives them that opportunity. They’ve beaten Illinois twice, Indiana, Minnesota, and Michigan. However, they rank 180th overall in points scored. Confused yet? This team will surely bite someone in the butt.

3) Illinois Illini – What do you know? Another Big 10 team. This team is even more frustrating than the last one! They are 18-8 and only 5-7 in the conference, but they have the opportunity of being a bubble buster from their key wins this year. They’ve beaten Butler, at Gonzaga, Ohio State, Indiana, at Minnesota. They also happened to lose to Purdue and Northwestern. They are clearly an up and down team and a team that gamblers should stay away from.

4) Duke Bluedevils – I was never a fan of Duke going into the tourney. This year they happen to be 22-2. Not bad right? The two games they’ve lost was at NC State by under 10 and at Miami by over 25. Recently, they slipped by UNC, BC, and Wake Forest. Earlier in the year they beat Kentucky, Louisville, and Ohio State. They always get ranked higher, Vegas sets big point margins, and they never seem to cover or lose outright.

5) Colorado State Rams – The Rams are 20-4 this season, ranked in the top 25, and they rank 1st in the NCAA in rebounds per game. They are beasts in the paint and they play in a tough mid major conference. They lost 2 games earlier in the year that were not good (at Colorado, at Illinois-Chicago). More recently, they lost against ranked San Diego State and New Mexico (both on the road). The bad part is they don’t have any significant wins outside of their conference or haven’t played anyone significant out of conference. Hard to get a read on how good they are. A good indication is how they do in their conference tourney when they have to play back to back games.

That’s all I got in my return back to the posts. As always, feel free to leave comments!

It’s Fall…It Must be Playoff Season

The Major League Baseball playoffs start officially tomorrow. The brand new wild card, one game playoff games are set up to start tomorrow for both the AL and NL. In the AL you have the Baltimore Orioles at the Texas Rangers and in the NL you have the St. Louis Cardinals at the Atlanta Braves. The only team that knew they would be playing on this day for sure was the Atlanta Braves who locked up a playoff spot earlier than the rest of the pack and knew they would also be getting a home game. The Cardinals were fighting off the Reds to close out the season trying to hold of the Dodgers from taking the final spot in the NL. In the American League, Baltimore was fighting for division down to the last game of the season with the New York Yankees. As for the Athletics, they also were fighting for division which they earned by beating the Texas Rangers to put the Rangers right into the one game playoff which sets up an interesting match up with Baltimore.

National League 

St. Louis Cardinals – Starting Pitcher: Kyle Lohse
at
Atlanta Braves – Starting Pitcher: Kris Medlen
Time: 5:07pm EST / 2:07pm PST TBS
Analysis: I’m a little bias when it comes to this game or the Braves in general because I have money on the Braves to win the World Series. The winner of this game will play the Washington Nationals in the next series. Kris Medlen will be starting the game for the Braves and he has pitched outstanding in the second half of this season. If he can get a solid 6 or 7 innings in, the middle to closing relief for the Braves can be dominating. They were essentially knocked out by the Cardinals last year during their collapse and I’m sure they would love to knock out the defending champions out. With the Cardinals, Kyle Lohse has been ace material all year for St. Louis and may give the best opportunity to win a one game playoff. The Cardinals turned on their offensive fire power once they made the playoffs last year and that’s what they have to rely on here. If they don’t jump on Medlen early, it might not end well for St. Louis if they have to climb back in it.
Prediction: Atlanta Braves

American League

Baltimore Orioles – Starting Pitcher: Joe Saunders
at
Texas Rangers – Starting Pitcher: Yu Darvish
Time: 8:37pm EST / 5:37pm PST TBS
Analysis: The winner of this game will play the New York Yankees. Everybody thought the Orioles would die off their hot start and they never did. They had a chance to win division until the very last game of the season. On the other side, the Texas Rangers led the AL West for the majority of the season and lost it at the end to Oakland. Darvish has been hot in his last 5 or 6 starts and is probably the best option for them to win in a win or go home scenario. Although, with the Orioles playing as well as they have been, I see that being a lot of the momentum they need to overcome a high powered offense in Texas. I’m going with the sleeper and upset.
Prediction: Baltimore Orioles

As for the other two series’ that will get underway on Saturday involve the Detroit Tigers, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants, and the Cincinnati Reds. I believe that most people expected the Reds and the Tigers to be playing into October, but how they made it here I’m not quite sure anyone expected. The Tigers didn’t run away with their division and really took control once the White Sox struggled in the last two weeks of the season. The Reds did lead their division for most of the second half, but not after the Pirates, Cardinals, and even the Brewers were fighting for their spot when eventually the Reds ran away with it. Oakland was a surprise team all year and they have a lot of young pitchers who have played very well who eventually overtook Texas. The Giants battled with the Dodgers for the division for most of the season, but really conquered them in the second half, even with the suspension to Melky Cabrera.

Oakland Athletics – Starting Pitcher: Jarrod Parker
at
Detroit Tigers – Starting Pitcher: Justin Verlander
Game 1: October 6th 6:07pm EST / 3:07pm PST TBS
Analysis: The benefit starting this season of winning your division gets you to set up your pitchers the way you would like and just jump into the best of five game series. The obvious game 1 starter for Detroit is Justin Verlander and in the playoffs he is lights out. On top of Verlander making it difficult for Oakland, they also have a triple crown winner in Miguel Cabrera that will torment the pitching staff. Oakland has the momentum and may win a game in this series. If they win game 1, I think they’ll win the series. But having game 1 in Detroit with arguably one of the best pitchers in the American League, and a great offense that is just starting to get hot might be too much to overcome.
Prediction: Detroit Tigers in 4 Games

Cincinnati Reds – Starting Pitcher: Johnny Cueto
at
San Francisco Giants – Starting Pitcher: Matt Cain
Game 1: October 6th 9:37pm EST / 6:37pm PST
Analysis: This is a great series and it’s a shame a team has to lose. This series has a little bit of everything. Both offenses are powerful, both starting pitching staffs are powerful, and the closers have been sharp for both teams all season. The Reds has had good teams entering the playoffs before and they always seem to get a tough match up. Cueto will be in the running for the NL Cy Young this season by going 19-9 with a 2.78 ERA and the obvious ace for Cincinnati. Matt Cain had a solid season as well and the advantage the Giants have is they play the first 2 games at home. Look for some exciting pitching match ups as well as some power surges. This series should be a must watch for any baseball fan.
Prediction: Cincinnati Reds in 5 Games

Two teams that I did not talk about in this post is the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals. Both teams match up with the winners of the one game wild card games on Friday. Both teams had excellent seasons and both teams are stacked in pitching and in hitting. The one down side which has been previously discussed by many is Stephen Strasburg being unavailable in the playoffs. If the Nationals get the Braves, they have a tough series to worry about. If they get the Cardinals, I feel they can get past them a lot easier as they match up better against them in a short series. If the Yankees play Texas, I think this could be the year the Yankees slide by Texas, only because Texas has been on a slight slide themselves. This is where the advantage of winning division comes into play where the Yankees will have CC Sabathia in game 1 where Texas won’t be able to use Yu Darvish. If the Yankees play Baltimore, I worry that the Yankees won’t be able to get by. It’s a tougher match up where the Yankees struggled against the birds and they have played them in more games.

It shapes out to be a great post season with hopefully some great endings!